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 Our War On Terror - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 8/31/09 — Wednesday, September 02, 2009 —  Q I believe it was March when the President announced his new strategy in Afghanistan and since then things have only gotten worse. This July and August I believe have been the two worst months in terms of U.S. fatalities. Obviously it takes a long time to implement a military strategy, but after six months not only are things not stabilized but they're worse -- they've gotten worse during that period of time. Is this an early sign that his strategy is not working?MR. GIBBS: No, Chip, we under-resourced Afghanistan for the better part of a decade. Okay? Q But now he's sending in additional troops and it's getting worse. MR. GIBBS: Well, and not all those additional troops are there. The assessment that is coming back is part of what a new commander does when they go to a region when they're newly assigned, as the President has General McChrystal to this region. But understand, Chip, we are not -- the President, whether it's the economy, health care, or anything, isn't going to -- we're not going to make -- we're not going to see the entire thing turn around in a few months, after years and years of neglect. You can't under-resource the most important part of our war on terror, you can't under-resource that for five or six or seven years -- whether it's under-resourced with troops, whether it's under-resourced with civilian manpower, whether it's under-resourced with economic development funding -- and hope to snap your fingers and have that turn around in just a few months. I think that what the President enunciated throughout the campaign and actualized as part of this administration was to change our direction in Afghanistan, to understand it was the central focus; that in Afghanistan and in the hills separating Afghanistan and Pakistan were those again plotting to do us harm, and that for far too long we've ignored that with the resources that were necessary to deal with the size and the scope of the problem that existed there. Q But as bad as it was when he came into office, it has become significantly worse since he announced his plan. MR. GIBBS: It is a challenging place. We are forever indebted to the men and women who serve there, and particularly those who sacrifice and make the ultimate sacrifice. I think the General's -- we'll see the General's assessment when it gets here. The President is focused on ensuring that we meet measurable benchmarks and that we disrupt, dismantle, and ultimately destroy al Qaeda and its extremist allies. It's going to take some doing. It's going to take more resources, which the President has dedicated to this problem. But understand, Chip, this was under-resourced, under-funded, under-manned and ignored for years and that's not going to change overnight. Q Is it possible that you're simply losing control in Afghanistan and it's going to continue to spiral out of control? MR. GIBBS: I think based on reports from what General -- based on some initial reporting that I've seen of General McChrystal's report, he says the situation is quite serious but the war is indeed winnable. Afghanistan | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Taliban | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Afghanistan, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Taliban, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:29:00 PM
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